Work Text:
The shuffling of papers caught Robotnik’s attention. A cacophony of amicable mumbles arose and Robotnik snapped out of his bored stupor, the meeting was over.
An array of dress suits flooded his vision as the various men in the room began standing up from around the roundtable.
His eyes flicked over to look at Stone, who had been on high alert all meeting and making sure he took note of anything worthwhile for Robotnik.
Stone’s face had the same near permanent fixture of a pleasant smile as he shook the hands of the various men who outstretched their arms to him; the men didn’t dare reach to shake hands with Robotnik, they had learned that lesson quite a long time ago, and never dared to retread those waters. So, Robotnik sat still at the table, surrounded by the room of standing men, Stone clinging close, and silently crossed his legs and interlocked his fingers, waiting the whole mess out.
His gaze darted once again to his side, to sneak a glance up at Stone’s smiling face. He was now talking to some director judging by the array of badges and medals plastered across the lapels of the suit, however Robotnik didn’t bother learning the names of his coworkers; every insignificant speck beneath him.
Robotnik heard Stone let out a few substanceless drivels of congratulations and camaraderie. The director standing in front of Stone reached an old shriveled-looking hand to Stone’s upper arm and planted a firm pat against it, punctuating their exchange.
Robotnik was, for once, puzzled. He saw how the other man’s face dropped. It went unnoticed by the director, whose poor excuse of a mind would never be so much as inclined to pay attention to the smallest of micro-expressions that passed across Stone’s face. Stone’s jaw clenched and eyes went glassy, his chest tightening and leaving the fabric shaking ever so slightly around the tensed muscles. He let out a small polite squeak to the man and kept his gaze forward blankly. He stood motionless as the rest of the men continued to file out of the room. It felt so unfamiliar to Robotnik, he had never seen Stone act like this.
Stone took a sharp inhale before speaking, letting out a weak, “Should we get back to the lab, Doctor?” Stone’s eyes darted around wildly, blinking frantically as he awaited Robotnik’s answer. Robotnik could hear the beginnings of a sharp cracking in his voice, indicating some primal desperation unbeknown to him.
Robotnik couldn’t help but to pause as he tried to analyze the other man’s reactions. He felt his eyebrows twitch involuntarily into a confused expression before resuming his neutral, bored stare. “Yes, I hate this cramped room,” he said, typical snark back in his presentation.
Robotnik dug a heeled boot into the linoleum floor to screech back his chair, hitting the foot of one of the stationary men that was idly talking behind him. The man doubled back away from Robotnik as he began carelessly shoving past the other men in the room, leaving a small clearing behind him, just large enough for Stone to slip through towards the door untouched, to which Stone nearly ran through as he kept close to the Doctor’s heels.
Robotnik didn’t waste any time, quickly making a run for the elevator as he trailed by the cramped hallway. He let a gloved finger glide by and press the button to bring the elevator open, before he theatrically stepped in, tailcoats fluttering behind him in the swift motion.
Stone stepped in beside the Doctor, hitting the button on the panel to bring them down to the floor level of the lab, and shakily assumed a position to the right of Robotnik, head shifting between looking down at the floor and straight ahead towards the door mindlessly.
Robotnik couldn’t stop himself from sneaking a few glances at Stone, trying to understand why he was reacting like he was. He had never seen the other man tense up quite like this, and it was all because of that simple touch on his arm? It didn’t make sense to Robotnik, Stone had survived countless near death experiences and having endless barrages of bullets being shot at him but something so mundane as a touch to the shoulder was enough to cause what only Robotnik was able to see as the beginning of the man shutting down?
The elevator chimed as they reached their floor and they both stepped out, both at a much slower pace than their sprint to the elevator as they made their way towards the lab entrance. Robotnik commanded the thick metal doors open with a swift few flicks of his gloved fingers. The two stepped in and Stone began making his way to the front worktable. Robotnik stood still in the doorstep, taking in the other man’s every move.
Stone had already walked over to the table, picking up a stack of papers and blueprints; leaving off just where they had before leaving for the meeting. His gaze remained still and mindless as his hands slightly shook as they combed through the stack looking for a specific slip of paper. He let out a sharp, breathy exhale before once again letting a practiced smile spread across his face.
“Shall we continue where we left off, Doctor?” Robotnik saw Stone’s Adam’s apple bob up as he took in a dry swallow. His eyes were still blinking wildly, Robotnik now able to see a reflection that highlighted the rapid jittery movement of his iris. Robotnik moved from the doorway, now aware of just how much space had been made between the two, and slowly glided over to the front desk to meet him across the table. Once Robotnik began walking over, Stone’s head dipped to blankly stare at his hands, now twitching into a white-knuckled grip of holding the stack of papers.
Robotnik crossed his arms as his expression once more grew confused. His lips twitched slightly before finally opening his mouth.
“What the hell was that, Stone?”
“The— the meeting? It was nothing but the final closure procedures for that terrorism case we handled last week. It was really nothing too—“
“Not the meeting. Why’d you freeze up like that?” Robotnik asked, lowering his face down to breach the distance between him and Stone.
The same initial glazed expression on Stone’s eyes almost instantly returned. His hands twitched as the sides of the paper dug into his palms. He was at a loss for words, only able to stand silently as he did anything to avoid meeting Robotnik’s gaze directly.
Stone opened his mouth silently, jaw shaking as he tried to grasp for an answer. “I— I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sir,” he stuttered, now noticeably struggling to steadily breathe.
Robtonik’s lip twitched up in what was almost disgust. “Stone, you know I hate non-answers like ‘ I don’t know ’ just as much as lies, and you’ve managed to cover both of your bases in one fell swoop.“ Robotnik’s face contorted into a scowl. He looked down as he saw Stone’s hands begin to more noticeably shake and twitch. Stone roughly set down the papers and clasped his hands together in front of him as he stood silently. “I’d like an answer, Stone.”
Stone shook his head as he searched for a response, neck jerking to look over his shoulder a few times. “It’s nothing, sir. It’s a… it’s just a— quirk I picked up from my years of service.” Robotnik noted the struggle as each word left Stone’s mouth with a certain uncharacteristic jerkiness to it, he almost never struggled this much to find the words.
Robotnik cocked his eyebrows up at Stone’s word choice, something he deemed particularly peculiar. “Quirk…?”
“I—it’s really nothing—“
“I can tell you’re lying again, you’re terrible at hiding it in your voice. Stone, tell me. Spit it out,” Robotnik began to grow slightly annoyed, tone rising.
“Is it necessary, sir?”
“You’re my agent. You protect me and if there’s anything that could easily render you unable to serve me, I should very well be aware of that. If you not being thorough with sharing your pitifully human weak-spots renders me dead , I’d consider it quite necessary to be thorough, Stone.”
Stone’s eyes fluttered closed as he held his breath for a second before taking a sharp inhale. “It wasn’t on my medical records?” A blank stare and silence from Robotnik was all he needed as an answer. Stone pursed his lips and stammered. “It— It just reminds me of… a lot I’ve tried to forget. Not— not tried, I— never had a choice in forgetting it.” Stone’s neck muscles tightened as he quickly whirled his head around the room. “It makes me feel like I did all those years ago. All of those… times upon times I’ve repressed and blocked out.” Robotnik could see as Stone had each word tumble out of his mouth, a floodgate had been opened that he had been repressing for years.
Robotnik’s head tilted in intrigue. Stone’s voice began to waver as he continued. “I’ve…” Stone let out a strained and winded laugh. “I’ve been through so much, Doctor.” Stone bit his bottom lip, letting his teeth fight with and bite off the uppermost layer of skin. Stone could feel himself choking back an apology.
“When I was a foot-soldier in the army they would pack us together so tightly… It was really as if we were nothing but sardines.” Stone grasped at the edge of the table, taking a step back to steady himself as he lowered his head into a sullen hang. “So many days of my life, so many years… I’ve lost… completely. I couldn’t remember them if I tried.” Stone’s eyes shook, the glistening of tears beginning to form along the ducts. “I don’t think I’d want to remember them, anyways. I can’t remember those countless days… But I remember every physical touch, every little sliver of bodily contact I had to feel every day as they packed us in to send us off to fight. That’s— That’s why I froze up at the meeting. It took me back to what I didn’t want to remember.”
Stone shut his eyes tight, nose and mouth wrinkling in waves outstretching from his closed eyelids. “I’ve missed so much of my life, but I know it’s happened. It just— Something about it tears me back to the— hazy memories of it, the vague memories that feel so… alien. Something about some familiar touch makes me feel as if I was standing there again.”
One hand reached up to comb through his hair, facade of emotional numbness breaking as Robotnik continued to stare relentlessly. “God, I didn’t even remember until now…” Stone let out a small pained laugh. “I’ve been tied up and interrogated. People have reached for me liked a caged animal and threatened me every last way they knew as they tried torturing any last speck of information out of me.” Stone’s breath shook and a numb smile crept across his face. “I can’t believe I managed to completely block that out…”
Robotnik could see as a pained tear broke and ran down his face. Stone didn’t wipe it away, it simply glided down his face as he stood, his chest tightening as his forearms clenched and twitched at his sides.
“It’s— I’m missing so much of my life now… because of it. And I’m going to miss so much of my future.” He raised a shaky hand in a claw-like grip up to his scalp and began running it down, nails visibly leaving scratches as they tore down. “So much of my life is just a blur. I’ve forgotten so much, I— I can’t bear to lose any more.”
His eyes widened and breath quickened in shallow frantic breaths as he now realized how much he had shared against his better judgement. Robotnik took a step back from the escalation of the other man’s panic. He was becoming frantic.
“I—I’m sorry sir. Just— just give me some time to compose myself and we can act like this all never happened. Please, I can’t lose this job. I won’t let this infringe on my work— Doctor—“
Robotnik stood in shock, trying to take in every piece of new information he had just learned about the man he had been closest to for the past years. He could no longer hide his utter bewilderment on his face. He hesitated, recognizing his need to tread carefully to avoid stepping on any eggshells that could make the other man break. He opened his mouth wordlessly as he searched for how to reply. “Why am I different?”
“—What?” Stone’s legs were now shaking as he clung wildly to the table. He looked up at Robotnik with a pained desperation.
“Why was it only today? I’ve… grabbed you and tossed you around countless times without so much as a flinch… Why only with that ?” Robotnik’s voice softened. He tried his best to smooth what would normally come across as accusatory and pointed into what it truly was, genuine curiosity.
“I— I don’t know, Sir. Really, I—“ Stone trailed off. Robotnik would have usually taken issue with Stone’s non-answer but he quickly understood that Stone truly could not place exactly why. Robotnik’s near permanent scowl softened into an expression he didn’t quite recognize.
He felt a twinge of something for the agent, almost a sense of pity. It was the first time Robotnik had seen a more vulnerable side to him, a more human side. He would typically see such an easily exploitable weak spot as viable grounds to try to get whatever subordinate he was assigned in the past fired, but this felt different to Robotnik.
Stone was a man who had been through so much, face painted with a similar array of wrinkles despite the man being nearly two decades younger. Above all else, he was resilient. He was still here, still standing despite it all.
Robotnik felt a warm knotting, an unfamiliar swelling, in his stomach. Something he could only identify as being a response that indicated affection.
Stone’s once manic and horrified expression was now one that had relaxed into a simple look of defeat. Robotnik could see just how battered and exhausted the man was from the hour, having to fight off breaking under such deep-rooted instinctual panic. “I guess… I trust you enough to be comfortable with your touch,” Stone mumbled out, voice beginning to level out and not waver upon every word.
Robotnik’s expression fell, softening. He saw Stone catching his breath before him as he could see all muscles twitching from being tightly tensed slowly relaxing. Stone’s shoulders began to fall down. Stone could feel every inch of his body aching from the stress.
Robotnik once again hesitated, making sure to tread lightly. “Stone?”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“You can take some time to compose yourself if you need it,” Robotnik said plainly.
Stone’s tired eyes squinted as his cheeks raised into a smile, a tired and exhausted one, but nonetheless unmistakably genuine.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Stone said, voice now newly steadied.
”He trusts me…” Robotnik whispered to himself.